Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Box Pleated Headband Tutorial

I've been on a headband kick lately. I can tell you exactly why, in fact. It's because I whacked off all my hair. Now, the last time I chopped off all my hair, I was 12.

Look at that face.

Unfortunately, because of the beanpole-completely-flat figure that went along with that face (and I imagine the navy blue Taz t-shirt I was wearing didn't help),I was mistaken for a boy once.

It scarred me for life.

Which leads me to the headbands! Now that my hair is short again, while I'm not afraid of being mistaken for a boy anymore, I AM afraid of not looking feminine. So I've been fully decked out with headbands and earrings (and even make-up too!) every day since the great chopping.

So onto the tutorial! I've been seeing a lot of ruffled and pleated headbands around, and I like them! I thought I'd try something just a little different though, and use box pleats. Kinda fun, right?

Okay, to make a box pleated headband, you will need:

A rigid headband (mine was metal)

Ribbon of your choice

Pins

Sewing machine

Hot glue gun

Beads or something like unto them for embellishment

Iron and ironing board (maybe)

1) Measure your headband. (Mine was about 15 inches.)

Multiple that measurement by three. Now cut that length in ribbon. (Therefore, I cut 45 inches.)

2) Singe one edge of your ribbon

(sorry for the blur, that's what you get when you try to take a photo of something you're doing with the self-timer!).

3) Take the edge that you singed and fold it over about an inch, then fold that in half (so the top layer is about half an inch wide) forming an S of sorts.

Pin in place.

4) Measure in one inch from the end, and fold over, forming another pleat.

Pin into place.

5) Turn it over, and measure in a half inch from the end of the last pleat,

and fold over, forming another pleat.

Pin into place from the front.

6) Measure a half inch from the end of the closest pleat, and fold over to form the next pleat (as in step 4).

Pin into place.

7) Turn it over and repeat step 5.

8) Repeat step 6, and so on until you've reached the end of your ribbon.

Check to make sure the length is correct, and singe the other end of the ribbon.

9) Sew straight down the middle, removing the pins as you go.

Now is when you'd want to iron your pleats. I forgot decided I didn't want them looking too starched and crisp, so I didn't.

10) Time for embellishment! If you're going to sew one beads like I did,

then do it now. If you're going to take a short cut and glue them on (whoever invented the hot glue gun is a genius), then do it after the next step. It will be easier.

I added my beads right where the stitching and the box pleats intersect.

11) Glue it onto your headband. Check again for fit before you start to glue, then only put about an inch of glue on at a time, otherwise it will harden before you can get your pleated ribbon properly situated on the headband.